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Maggie Otieno

Maggie Otieno (b.1974) is a Kenyan visual arts practitioner living and working in Nairobi. Otieno began her practice in art as a painter, joining Kuna Trust Art center in 1996 where she was first introduced to sculpture by Elijah Ogira. On falling in love with 3D medium, she became a full time sculptor. Her initial work was predominantly done in stone and wood separately. However, over the years her work has shifted to include found objects, heavily combining wood and metal together.

As an artist who did not formally train in sculpture, Otieno pushed her practice through experimentation and curiosity. Through abstract long figures comprised of 150 year old distressed railway sleepers, her current work captures social commentary and diverse experiences of human forms, evoking emotion and creating interactions and movement in abstraction.

Otieno was included in the Cave_bureau exhibition ‘Anthropocene Museum 9.0: The Old Sharjah Slaughterhouse Tour’ for the Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 curated by Tosin Oshinowo.

Selected works

Maggie Otieno, The Watchmen, Railway Sleepers and mild steel, 228.6 cm x 274 cm, 2021
Maggie Otieno, The Watchmen, Railway Sleepers and mild steel, 228.6 cm x 274 cm, 2021
Maggie Otieno, The Keen Learner MO2, Railway sleepers and mild steel, 83.8 cm x 7.6 cm x 10.1 cm, 2023
Maggie Otieno, The Keen Learner MO2, Railway sleepers and mild steel, 83.8 cm x 7.6 cm x 10.1 cm, 2023
Maggie Otieno, When we journeyed Railway sleepers and mild steel 234 x 14 x 5.1 cm & 223.5 x 16.8 x 5.1 cm, 2020
Maggie Otieno, When we journeyed Railway sleepers and mild steel 234 x 14 x 5.1 cm & 223.5 x 16.8 x 5.1 cm, 2020
No, thank you. I do not want.